Hunter S Thompson's widow plans to clone and sell his marijuana stash

The widow of legendary journalist and hell-raiser Hunter S. Thompson is working on cloning the writer's personal marijuana stash so it can be sold on the mass market.

Anita Thompson, who married Hunter in 2003 two years before his suicide, said in a post on her Facebook page that she had found a legal method to extract the DNA from the author's personal marijuana and hashish stash that she had saved for 12 to 15 years.

"I am in the process of making the strains available to those who would like to enjoy the authentic Gonzo strains in legal states," she said in the post. "I am looking forward to making the authentic strains available in legal states to support the farm and the scholarships."

In an article in The Aspen Times this week, she added that she is currently in talks with a company about cloning, growing and selling the cannabis.

Anita Thompson, who took over ownership of her late husband's 42-acre Owl Farm property in Colorado this year, told the newspaper that proceeds from the sales would go towards renovating the property and turning into a private museum and writer's retreat.

Colorado is one of eight U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia, where adult recreational use of marijuana has been legalized in some form.

Nationally, legal sales of marijuana will reach $7.4 billion this year and surpass $20.6 billion by 2020, with recreational marijuana sales making up about 53 percent of the market, according to Arcview Market Research.